Publication in Chemical Science: Natrajan Group

Debbie Jones, Michael Andrews, Adam Swinburne and Louise Natrajan have published an open access edge article in Chemical Science: "Fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy as tools for monitoring redox transformations of uranium in biological systems."

The article describes, for the first time, how a combination of luminescence spectroscopy, microscopy and lifetime image mapping can offer new insights into the bioreduction of Geobacter sulfurreducens with uranyl. Geobacter Sufurreducens is a common bacterium found in sub surface soils and is being actively researched for its ability to enzymatically reduce environmentally mobile toxic radionuclides, here, uranium, to their insoluble and therefore immobile counterparts, for the remediation and clean up of nuclear wastes.

This work was conducted in collaboration with Professor Jonathan Lloyd (SEAES, Manchester) and with the Lasers for Science Facility (LSF) at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford with Professor Stan Botchway and Dr Andy Ward. The work was funded by the EPSRC, the Leverhulme Trust and STFC direct access grants instigated in collaboration with the STFC funded Environmental Radiation Network (Env-Rad-Net).

The article was highlighted in the June edition of the STFC 'Highlights' magazine and an STFC media press release will be announced in due course including an interview and photo shoot with Louise Natrajan and her group regarding their work at LSF.